Sports Then and Now

The Big East may be losing, and gaining, some schools for College Football.

The Big East, and Big 12, have been at it for a couple of weeks. However, not only the conferences are working towards aligning their respective “divisions”  differently, the schools are. Here’s the Big East Merry Go Round:

Pittsburgh and Syracuse want out. The Big East for College Football has fallen to the cellar of any College Football Conference Ranking. The conference just can’t win the big games. Did you see Connecticut last year? They won the Big East, but then got run over by Oklahoma 48-20. There’s no way for a Big East team to win a BCS game right now, it’s impossible.

I’m questioning and pondering why Pitt and ‘Cuse want out. They plan on moving over to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), but every fan knows that they can’t win their either. Sure, recent NFL Players have come out of Pittsburgh, Lesean McCoy, Larry Fitzgerald, and you can even go back with Dan Marino, Mike Ditka and Tony Dorsett. It’s the truth, the University of Pittsburgh has a stellar football program, the thing is, they can barely win in the Big East, and I can’t imagine them tearing up the ACC like they plan on doing. Fine, Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Virginia are all easy teams to beat, but North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Clemson will wallop the Panthers. All I have to say about Pitt, is there is just no point in switching Conferences.

Syracuse, has a little different story. The Orangemen were a prominent team way back when, but they have struggled at the Carrier Dome, and every field, for recent years. The Orange, have turned it around a little bit, but still haven’t found any formula for winning games, and the Big East in general. ‘Cuse hadn’t had a winning season since 2001 after their 8-5 campaign last year, and haven’t reached a BCS Bowl since 1998! We’ll see if the Orange can turn it around, or Syracuse will find themselves being the pushover in the ACC.

Possible Contenders: There has been rumors flying in all directions about the Big East, but this is true: If anyone in the Big East leaves, the Big East will replace them. Possible schools to fill the gap are Army, Navy, Air Force, Temple, Villanova and East Carolina. Notre Dame, Memphis, Houston, Central Florida and Southern Methodist are all longshots, but are definitely still in the running. Even add Connecticut to the “I want out” list, as the defending Big East Champs may want to follow the leaders. Read the rest of this entry →

To fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide, the last name “Tiffin” is considered as royalty because that is the last name of former kicker Van Tiffin, who made a 52-yard field goal as time expired to give ‘Bama a 25-23 victory over arch rival Auburn in the 1985 “Iron Bowl”.

But after the Tide’s 2006 game with the Arkansas Razorbacks, most Alabama fans probably cringed when they heard the last name “Tiffin”.

Alabama entered the game with a 3-0 record and a #22 ranking as they traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas for their first road game of the season.

The Tide were under the direction of head coach Mike Shula, who was in his fourth season as the Tide head coach and was coming off a 10-2 season the year before.

Alabama had 13 starters back from that team including running back Kenneth Darby and kicker Jamie Christensen, who made three game-winning field goals for the Tide in 2005.

But right before the start of the regular season, Christensen pulled a groin muscle and would be out of action for the first few games of the season.

That left the job to freshman walk-on Leigh Tiffin, son of ‘Bama hero Van Tiffin, to take the reins of the field goal kicker.

Tiffin filled the role quite nicely in the Tide’s first three game as he made seven out of nine field goal attempts, including a 47-yard game-winning field goal against Vanderbilt in the second game of the season.

While it seemed the future looked bright for Shula, the future was uncertain for Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt as he was coming off two losing seasons in Fayetteville and was on the hot seat as the 2006 season began.

But there was hope for the ‘Hogs in ’06, as a new offensive coordinator and the running back duo of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, gave optimisms’ that Arkansas would rebound with a winning season.

However, after a 50-14 loss to USC in the season opener and unimpressive wins against Utah State and Vanderbilt, Nutt was in need of a victory against the Tide.

Both teams traded punts until the Razorbacks’ second possession when Arkansas took over in ‘Bama territory and drove 30 yards in 10 plays, with McFadden carry it six times for 25 yards. Read the rest of this entry →

The 2001 Orange Bowl was the designated national championship game for the 2000 season and it featured a team that was expected to be in the game and another team that was not expected to be there.

Ever since Barry Switzer resigned as head coach following the 1988 season, the Sooners went 61-50-1 in the next 10 seasons and played in only three bowl games.

After the 1998 season, Oklahoma hired Florida defensive coordinator Bob Stoops, who had helped the Gators win the 1996 national championship, in hopes of restoring the Sooners to prominence.

Stoops went 7-5 in his first season as head coach but things took off in 2000 as the Sooners went undefeated thanks to a high-powered offense led by quarterback Josh Heupel, who finished second in the running for the Heisman Trophy and a defense that allowed under 16 points per game on average during the season.

Despite being 12-0 and #1 entering the title game, the Sooners were 10 ½ point underdogs to their opponent, the Florida State Seminoles.

Florida State was the defending national champion and were perhaps the most dominant team during the 2000 season.

The offense, led by Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke, averaged 42.4 points per game while the defense held opponents to an average of 10.3 points per game as the Seminoles won at least 10 games for the fourteenth consecutive season, all under the direction of head coach Bobby Bowden.

Despite their dominance, most experts believed that the Seminoles should not be in the title game because they lost one game, a 27-24 nail-biter to arch-rival Miami, who also finished the season with one loss and believed by most experts to play opposite Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.

However when the BCS final rankings were released, FSU was ranked ahead of Miami, and it was the ‘Noles who got a chance to win back-to-back national titles.

While they were heavily favored, the Seminoles faced two issues as they entered their title tilt with the Sooners.

Offensive coordinator Mark Richt had accepted the head coaching job at the University of Georgia, perhaps distracting him from constructing a good game plan against the Sooner defense, and wide receiver Snoop Minnis, Weinke’s best target, had been ruled academically ineligible and had to sit out the game.

These two issues looked to cause problems for the Florida State offense, but It certainly did not look like that the Seminoles offense would have such trouble as Weinke connected with Atrews Bell for a 35-yard gain on the first play of the game. Read the rest of this entry →

Before news broke that Cecil Newton had shopped the services of his son to college teams, they appeared to be the feel-good story of college football in 2010.

You know how sometimes you make a decision that seems to be a good short-term choice, but when looked in the bigger context probably wasn’t such a smart idea? Well, I can’t help thinking of that kind of notion when thinking about Cam Newton and the record-setting performance he had yesterday in his first game for the Carolina Panthers.

Even though the Panthers lost, given that Newton threw for more yards in his professional debut than any quarterback in NFL history, today should be a day when Newton is celebrated nationwide as a budding superstar and starts to cash in on his mile-wide smile, dynamic personality and athletic ability.

However, while I believe there is general appreciation for his performance and ability, I get the sense that many people across the country aren’t really interested in signing up for the “Cam Era” and likely will never embrace him in the way that his talent and potential might deserve.

You can choose to say that the reason for this is that he is a black quarterback in what is still predominately a white quarterback world, but I will respectfully disagree.

Instead, I believe that players such as Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham, Doug Williams, Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper, Michael Vick and others have paved the way for someone like Cam Newton to be the face of a franchise and the face of the NFL.

In my opinion, the biggest reason that Cam Newton isn’t receiving the unbridled love of sports fans across the country can be traced to one of those short-term decisions. When Cam’s father, Cecil Newton, chose to hold discussions about how much it was worth to certain universities to secure the services of his son, Cecil unknowingly forever altered how his son is perceived by the sports world.

Whether or not you believe that money changed hands (to my knowledge no evidence of this has been proven) or whether you believe that Cam knew about the discussions (as of now the NCAA has ruled that he didn’t), you cannot help but look at Cam in a different light than if his father had respected the rules of amateur athletics and the NCAA and waited until after his son had completed his college career to cash in financially.

I have little doubt that if the world had never learned that Cecil Newton tried to trade the services of his son to Mississippi State for a six-figure cash deal, Cam Newton would have been the toast of the sports world even before his amazing NFL debut. Read the rest of this entry →

Maryland, Illinois and Arizona State Are My Top 3 Sleepers For This Year's College Football Season.

Since we are in the spirit for College Football as we speak, and the season is underway, here are my 3 sleepers and 3 busts for the 2011 College Football Season, and why:

Sleepers:

1. Maryland Terrapins: No, it’s not just the uniforms, Maryland is for real. Granted, the Terps beat Miami, A team that will quickly fall to the cellar of the ACC, but there is promise for Maryland this season. Maryland will likely win there next 3 games, (West Virginia, Temple and Towson) Maryland will find their way easily into the AP Top 25 by Week 6 when they face Georgia Tech. Maryland only has 3-4 tough games, so expect them to go to a solid bowl this season. “Fear The Turtle.”

2. Illinois Fighting Illini: Illinois is in a tough conference, however, like Maryland, their schedule is pretty darn easy. While the Illini are set to play in the Leaders division of the Big 10, their conference schedule looks weak. Now, that may sound like a bad thing, but for Illinois, it’s all about winning. Illinois will go 6-0 to start the year. Then, it gets tough. Ohio State is still a tough opponent despite the off field issues, Penn State is never a great place to play, and with Coach Paterno and Running Back Silas Redd, they are coming to play this season. After that? Oh, a date with Michigan who is planning on using Denard Robinson’s speed, and Brady Hoke’s wisdom, to return Michigan to it’s former glory. Wisconsin is next, which we assume will be a loss for the Illini. Nonetheless, I predict a 9-3 record for Illinois, and a spot in the end of year Top 25.

3. Arizona State Sun Devils: My last sleeper team comes from a sleeping conference. Oregon and Stanford are the only legitimate teams in the conference, with USC trailing behind. You can now add ASU to the list. Arizona State will be in the Pac 12 Championship Game. Yeah, I said it. The Sun Devils have a terrific offense led by Quarterback Brock Osweiler leading the team. Osweiler threw for 2 TD’s as Arizona State ran all over UC Ddavis, 48-14 in Week 1. The Schedule for Arizona State, is simple. There is no Stanford on that list, and the Sun Devils could keep up with Oregon, and upset the Ducks. For the rest of the schedule, is all out winning. Illinois, USC and California could challenge the Sun Devils, but I don’t see it. Predict a 10-2 season and a berth in the Pac 12 Championship Game for ASU.

Notable Sleepers: USF, Ole Miss and Missouri. Read the rest of this entry →

Notre Dame played under the lights in South Bend for the first time against Michigan in 1982.

The Michigan Wolverines make history this Saturday night when they play the first ever night game at Michigan Stadium against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

But this is not the first time that Michigan and Notre Dame have played a historic night game.

On September 18, 1982, the Fighting Irish hosted the Wolverines in the first night game ever played in Notre Dame Stadium.

It was the season opener for the Irish who were coming off their first losing season in 18 years, a 5-6 affair in the first season under head coach Gerry Faust who had spent 19 seasons as the head coach of Moeller High School in Cincinnati.

As for the Wolverines, they entered their showdown with Notre Dame ranked #10 in the nation following a 20-9 win over Wisconsin in their season opener.

Michigan was led by two-time all-American wide receiver Anthony Carter, who rewrote the record books during his time at Michigan and was a candidate for the Heisman Trophy in 1982.

The Wolverines got the ball to start the game but turned it over on the third play of the game when quarterback Steve Smith was sacked by defensive lineman Bob Clasby, who stripped Smith of the ball leading to a Notre Dame recovery at the Michigan 22-yard-line.

The Irish converted the turnover into three points with a 35-yard field goal by Mike Johnston to give Notre Dame an early 3-0 lead.

Later in the first quarter, Smith fumbled the ball again when he collided with tailback Lawrence Ricks and the Irish converted the fumble into more points when Larry Moriarty scored on a 24-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter to increase the Notre Dame lead to 10-0. Read the rest of this entry →